Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Independent Activities Period (IAP) 2015

6.S086: Law is Code

Software for Access to Justice, Legal Aid, and Open Law

U 3 Units, Graded P/D/F

5 sessions (1/9, 1/13, 1/16, 1/20, 1/23, 3pm-5pm)

Videorecording of Final Showcase on January 23, 2015

Descriptions and Open-Source Repositories of Projects

Can computing technologies help provide access to justice, provide legal aid more effectively, or make government and the law more open? In the U.S., nearly a million people are turned away from federally funded legal aid services a year; new, scalable solutions are needed.

In 6.S086: Law is Code, small teams will learn about the challenges that legal aid organizations and public agencies face, choose a project, and develop software that addresses their need. Examples might include:

We have solicited project ideas from a number of local groups and organizations, including the Committee of Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the Harvard Law School Legal Services Center, the Suffolk Accelerator-to-Practice Program and Greater Boston Legal Services. We are also open to your project ideas and interests!

Questions? Contact us at lawiscode-staff@mit.edu.

Registration

To register, you should:
  1. Sign up through the MIT registrar's office.
  2. Complete the registration form below and attend the first class on Friday, January 9, 2015.
We also welcome designers, coders, and members of the legal community from outside MIT to participate. If you are not an MIT student, please complete the form and email us at lawiscode-staff@mit.edu.

Instructors

Contributors

Schedule (32-124 unless otherwise indicated)

Assignments